recording drums in a basement.

fitz487

New member
I have just recently got into the whole recording scene. I am planning on recording a demo with my band in the basement we practice in and wanted some advice on how to mic the drums and what i can do to improve the sound of the room. It has low ceilings wood paneling for walls. I have a sm57, rode nt1a, a couple of cheap vocal mics, and a small diaphragm condenser. Thanks.
 
Theres all sorts of things you could do, you could put the 57 on snare have the rode nta1 as a mono OH and then the small diaphragm condenser as a spot mic for your hi hats or ride. One of your dynamics on kick maybe and w.e mics left put them on toms.
You could also use the small diaphragm condenser as your mono overhead and use your rode as your kick mic placing it back a bit from the reso head of the kick drum.
 
thanks. i was looking into getting moving blankets to deaden the room a little bit. would you suggest that?
 
yes, get whatever you can to cut down on the harsh overtones from the cymbals. since it's a basement, you will get a lot of slapback echo. moving blankets will help. 703 fiberglass would be better.
 
I second the 703. But don't think that just because you didnt get it from GUITAR CENTER that means it's crap. Scope out some fabric stores, Craft supply stores look for some dense foam, heavy blankets, really anything that's thick and dense and seems somewhat absorbent. I sound proofed my room with some old pole vaulting mats from my high school and it worked amazingly, and it was FREE! As far as sound proofing goes, MORE IS BETTER. Have fun recording the demo's and don't be shy on the forums there's tons of good ears hear.(<--pun intended)

-Barrett
 
Set the drums out into the room a bit also. Basements usualy have lots of echo problems, by setting the drums clocer to the middle of the room you may be able to use the echo as natural reverb. It's easier to position mics too.

Low ceilings can be a problem, especially with cymbals. If possible hang a cloud over the drums, even a blanket stapled to the ceiling will help, hang it loosely so it resembles a pillow, put a few staples in the inner area to prevent too much sag but don't put it tight to the ceiling. If the floor is bare (it's a basement, I assume concrete) put a throw rug or a piece of carpet under the drums.

If it sounds boomy you need some bass trapping. 703 traps would be ideal but for a "quick fix" you can stand a couple of twin size mattresses in consecutive corners. Borrow a few chairs from the dinning room, set these around the drums and drape heavy blankets over them, this helps a lot with mid frequency absorbtion. Hang blankets over doors, especially if they are hollow doors, they resonate and add to boominess in a room.

Remember you are recording audio (not video) so it doesn't have to look good, it needs to sound good. I hope some of this helps, good luck.
 
i also have been messing around with recording drums in my basement/jam spot. it is loaded with carpet and blankets on all surfaces. i found this to be almost too dead of a sound ( though still way better than without any of it there ). I have recently removed a few blankets here and there to liven up the sound a bit... it is working out pretty well. now to upgrade the recording side of things...
 
You're better off with a hard floor than carpeting. I don't know where this idea that everything has to be "dead" comes from. Hard floor, soft ceiling, bass traps is the way to go. Blankets are not a good idea, nor are "egg crates".
 
You're better off with a hard floor than carpeting. I don't know where this idea that everything has to be "dead" comes from. Hard floor, soft ceiling, bass traps is the way to go. Blankets are not a good idea, nor are "egg crates".

I didn't mean to portray the idea that DEAD IS BETTER. Its just as a Newb like myself it's easier to start deadening a room than tune a room, that's a whole nother art to master. I'm not advocating a lack of importance on "the room" as an instrument of it's own.
 
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